24 Minutes
by limeorcoconut
Summary: It didn't seem fair that such a short amount of time would be able to alter their lives forever. Warning: Character Deaths


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds**_

24 Minutes 

Time is of the essence. That is what her mother had taught her many years ago and she had yet to be proven wrong. It seemed to be moving in slow motion as she watched the scene unraveling in front of her. Tears blurred her vision as she attempted to understand how a perfectly routine take down had turned into such a hellish nightmare in just 24 minutes.

24 minutes ago

The pounding of her heart filled her ears as she awaited Hotch's instructions. Morgan stood next to her ready to bust down the door as soon as the word 'Go' could be heard through the static of the earpiece. She looked to JJ who was running a hand through the bangs that had fallen loose from her ponytail, concentrating solely on the door in front of her. Her hands started to shake in anticipation as she heard Hotch's signal through and prepared herself for what was to come.

23 minutes ago

Morgan kicked down the door with practiced ease as they entered silently, beginning the long awaited search for their unsub.

Reid felt the sweat begin to form along his hair line and soak through the underarms of his white dress shirt when he heard Hotch whisper the word "go. Hotch, Rossi and himself entered quickly through the front and began to clear the rooms one by one.

22 minutes ago

Morgan did a swift check of the kitchen as Prentiss covered him. The room was empty but he had a gut feeling that the unsub was somewhere in the house, silently awaiting his chance to pounce.

21 minutes ago

Between the six agents they had now cleared the main floor. She watched as Hotch, Rossi and Reid began to climb towards the second floor before turning to follow JJ and Morgan into the basement.

20 minutes ago

Emily hated basements. She hated the way they always smelt damp and moldy. She hated the dim light bulbs that always hung overhead never seeming to illuminate the room quite enough. She hated the spiders that inhabited the corners of the room seemingly staring in her direction. But most of all she hated the danger they always seemed to forebode.

19 minutes ago

JJ covered Morgan and Emily as they began the check the basement. She felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck as she sensed a presence behind her. Before she could turn in that direction, a hand was clamped roughly over her mouth silencing her warning to Morgan and Emily.

Hotch's stomach was doing flips as he sensed the unsubs existence in the house. They hadn't found him yet but he was ready as he had been long anticipating the take down of this sick bastard.

18 minutes ago

JJ struggled in her captors grasp attempting to attract the attention of Prentiss and Morgan who were still occupied with clearing an adjacent room. JJ bit at the large hand covering her mouth only to be stilled by the knife that was plunged into her neck, causing bright red blood to spurt in every direction.

The house was too quiet. A sense of foreboding had settled over Rossi like a thick fog as the team searched the rooms one by one. He was here, it was only a matter of time until they found him, he was sure of it.

17 minutes ago

Morgan winced as Prentiss yelled clear a little too loudly for his liking. They had now cleared the entire basement without a single sign of the unsub. He turned to make sure JJ had heard Prentiss, noticing her absence he began to panic.

16 minutes ago

Morgan rushed back towards the staircase sweeping the room with his flashlight as he went, Prentiss's heavy footsteps following closely behind. About to climb the staircase again Morgan was brought to a halt by the ear piercing scream that Prentiss had just released.

Hotch turned abruptly when he heard a scream, seemingly coming from Prentiss. He didn't have to ask Rossi and Reid to follow as they returned to the staircase just as quick as he, and together they made their way towards the basement.

15 minutes ago

Emily wiped a hand across her face smearing the warm, sticky blood on her cheek. She was staring at the ceiling where fresh blood was now splattered in every direction, dripping intermittently from the once white tiles.

Morgan cursed when he realized what had alerted Prentiss, the fresh blood had not been there on the initial sweep of the room. That could mean only one thing, JJ.

Reid nearly tripped over his own two feet as he flew down the stairs attempting to keep up with his bosses. His mind was moving at a million miles a minute trying to imagine what situation was awaiting him at the bottom of the basement stairs. He was brought to a sudden halt almost colliding into the back of Rossi who had stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

14 minutes ago

Morgan glanced around the room in search of JJ's body and noticed a slight blood trail leading towards the bathroom they had cleared only moments before. He moved towards the door rapidly his stomach doing a small flip before he pushed the door open his gun raised.

Emily was still stunned due to the fact that she was almost ninety nine percent sure that it was her best friend's blood that was currently smeared across her hands and face. Only when the rest of the team began to move in the direction of the bathroom did she follow, her body running completely on auto-pilot.

13 minutes ago

Morgan didn't even have time to react as a gun was aimed at his forehead as soon as he pushed open the bathroom door. With no time to pull the trigger of his own gun Morgan was hit squarely in the forehead his last word being "shit."

Rossi was not prepared for Morgan to fall backwards into his arms as soon as Morgan had opened the door. He stumbled backwards into Hotch knocking both himself and Hotch to the ground, a lifeless Morgan lying on top.

Reid jumped at the sound of a shot being fired. His hands were shaking as he mentally prepared himself for the outcome of this case.

12 minutes ago

Rossi could taste the blood on his lips. It poured freely from the bullet hole in Morgan's head covering his face. Rossi used one arm to wipe the blood from his mouth and the other to attempt to roll Morgan off himself.

Hotch was breathing heavily trying to reduce the pain that was radiating from his head. During his fall his head had hit the floor with great force almost knocking him out. He tried to writhe free but Rossi and Morgan's body weight combined with his head injury was too much, so instead he lay still hoping that they would move sooner than later.

Prentiss moved towards the pile of men currently inhabiting the floor, keeping an eye on the bathroom door incase the unsub should emerge. With the help of Rossi, Morgan was rolled to the floor allowing Rossi to stand.

Reid had his gun trained on the door prepared should the unsub appear through the doorway. He was unsure of how well his shot would be aimed as his hands were shaking manically, unable to control them. He watched as Prentiss helped Rossi to his feet and then the three of them waited, anticipating what was to come.

11 minutes to go

Hotch watched through blurry eyes as his three remaining agents stood with their guns aimed at the closed door quietly debating what their next move should be. He attempted to sit only to find himself immediately dizzy.

When Prentiss noticed Hotch attempting to sit she said a quick "Hotch lay the fuck down," before continuing her debate with Rossi and Reid as to whether or not they should enter the bathroom. She smiled inwardly when Hotch did as he was told without so much as a complaint.

Rossi was getting irritated. They were running out of time and they already had one presumably two dead agents, doubting that JJ had survived such a great amount of blood loss. He kept urging them to enter the bathroom but Reid was arguing that entering the bathroom was equal to committing suicide. He looked at Prentiss awaiting her opinion but she was busy watching Hotch and she looked as though her mind was elsewhere. Fed up with their lack of movement Rossi stepped towards the bathroom door, suicide or not, they had an unsub to catch.

10 minutes ago

Hotch was clearly frustrated at his inability to lead the team. He could tell they were arguing but was unable to hear what they were saying as their voices were just an irritating buzzing in his head.

Reid watched anxiously as Rossi stepped towards the bathroom door. He felt like turning and running the other way knowing that this was not going to have a pleasant outcome. He looked to Prentiss begging her to stop Rossi but her mind seemed to be elsewhere. So instead he just waited, hoping that this wouldn't lead to an 'I told you so.'

9 minutes ago

Rossi hesitated at the door as Reid's warning repeated itself in his mind. He knew that opening the door was dangerous but he was prepared and was not going to let this unsub get away with murdering two of his friends. He pushed open the door with major force, it smacking the wall with a loud bang and began shooting blindly into the room.

Hotch scrunched up his face attempting to block out the noise that only added to his pounding headache. He wished he was at home in his bed with a nice bottle of Tylenol and a good movie. Instead he began to count down the minutes until this nightmare would be over.

Prentiss snapped out of her trance when she heard the bullets begin to sound, jerking her head towards the direction of the bathroom door. She chewed her lip, a nervous habit, as she prepared to follow Rossi into the warzone.

8 minutes ago

Reid could feel his heart rate accelerating as he prepared to enter the room behind Rossi and Prentiss. He suddenly wished he has decided to become something more alluring such as becoming an astronaut or zoologist. He knew that they were now just tempting fate.

Rossi stopped shooting when he noticed the empty room. Well empty of life anyway. JJ's body could be seen slumped against the bathtub; blood soaking her clothes completely, her face immensely pale her blue orbs staring blankly forward. There was no doubt in his mind now that Jennifer Jareau was indeed dead. He cursed inwardly that they had spent so much time arguing, allowing the unsub the chance to move into the adjoining room seemingly taunting them to follow.

7 minutes ago

Prentiss sucked in a breath at the sight of JJ. She couldn't believe this was happening. Two of her best friends had been killed within minutes of each other. She watched as Rossi prepared himself to enter the adjoining room. He was just being reckless now. In Prentiss's mind they should just grab Hotch and run as far away from this hell hole as they could possibly get.

Rossi knew they were being hasty now leaving Hotch unattended in the other room and allegedly signing their death certificate. He knew he should turn around but a bigger part of him wanted justice, to kill the sick bastard who had murdered his friends. So without further ado he headed into the dark room, gun and flashlight aimed forward.

6 minutes ago

Hotch was trying to listen as best he could, the buzzing in his ears drowning out what should have been easily heard. He closed his eyes and began to pray that his team would reemerge from the bathroom fully intact, hoping he wasn't wasting his time.

Prentiss was on the verge of becoming hysterical. The smell of JJ's blood was filling her nostrils making her nauseous to the point where she could barely hold it down. She wished with all her might that she would have stayed in bed this morning.

Rossi moved the flashlight swiftly across the pitch black room prepared to pull the trigger the moment he saw the unsub.

5 minutes ago

Rossi was unable to react when a body dropped from overhead knocking Rossi to the ground, a knife plunging into his heart. The last thing he saw was the unsub falling to the ground beside him and all Rossi could think was, 'good job kid', before his eyes closed forever.

Reid pulled the trigger the instant he saw a body knock Rossi to the ground with surprisingly perfect aim. The body fell with a thud next to Rossi's and Reid felt himself hoping aloud that he hadn't been too late.

Hotch felt at his side for his radio again attempting to alert back up to their situation hoping that they would get there soon.

4 minutes ago

Prentiss thanked God for Reid's quick reflexes when she saw him shoot towards the unsub, as her mind had been too preoccupied to even notice the body dropping.

Reid kicked the knife from the unsub's grasp before kneeling down next to him checking for a pulse, he sighed in relief, when he felt none.

3 minutes ago

Reid shuffled towards Rossi and began to feel for a pulse his eyes tearing up when he found none. He turned his gaze to Prentiss shaking his head, alerting her to the fact that one last team member had sacrificed himself to their unsub.

2 minutes ago

Reid had been unprepared for Prentiss's reaction as he quickly stumbled backwards in disgust when she vomited all over his pant leg.

She couldn't control the nauseous feeling any longer nor stop the bile that made its way up her throat as she spewed it all over Reid's pant leg before turning on her heel and heading out towards Hotch, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

1 minute

Reid sighed in disgust as the smell of vomit and blood combined filled his nose. He shook his pant leg attempting to clean if off slightly, noting that the action was pointless. With one last huff of frustration he followed Prentiss back into the other room, drying his tears with his sleeve.

Prentiss sighed in relief when she saw police and paramedics filing down the stairs. She silently cursed them for not being there ten minutes earlier, a hell of a lot of grief might have been saved.

Present time

Reid watched as paramedics pushed past him towards the lifeless bodies of Rossi and the unsub. Not wanting to watch as one of his friends was placed in a body bag he moved to stand next to Prentiss as she watched intently as the paramedics began to bandage Hotch's head.

24 minutes. That was all it had taken to change their lives forever. She felt hot tears running down her cheeks as she watched the paramedic bandage Hotch's bleeding head. She smiled slightly when she felt Reid's hand slipping into hers, a welcomed sign of comfort. She wondered then if they would ever get past this and maybe even one day be okay. It wasn't fair that such a short span of time should be able to alter one's life forever. But it had, and it had only taken 24 short minutes.

_**A/N: Just a little one shot that I couldn't get out of my head. Thank for reading and please review!**_


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